The Clark County Historical Association’s annual Meeks-Etchieson Lecture will feature Stan Graves of Montgomery County on Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the DeGray Lake Resort State Park Lodge in Bismarck.

Graves retired several years ago after working with Arkansas State Parks for more than four decades, including as the first superintendent of DeGray Lake State Park in the 1970s. He will share some personal memories of the early days of DeGray and other parks, during a time when Arkansas State Parks was developing into one of the premier state park systems in the country.

The public is cordially invited to attend this free event.

Graves grew up on a small family farm near Norman in Montgomery County. He graduated from Norman High School and Arkansas Tech University with a degree in parks and recreation. He stayed true to his educational background and began working for the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Publicity and Parks Commission (now the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism).

Graves’ career with State Parks spanned the next 42 years and included a variety of assignments in different locations. He served as park superintendent for 10 years at three very different parks (Crowley’s Ridge, Buffalo River, DeGray), as regional manager for 10 years overseeing operations at several parks, and retired after 22 years at the helm of the Arkansas State Parks Planning and Development Division based in Little Rock.

Today, Graves lives in Montgomery County and serves on the board of the Heritage House Museum of Montgomery County in Mount Ida and on the board of the Norman Historic Preservation Program (Norman High School).

The public is invited and encouraged to attend this free event. The lecture series is named for Meeks Etchieson of Magnet Cove, who died in 2021. Etchieson was a Clark County native, served as president of the Historical Association for several terms, and was a prolific author and compiler of historical records for the organization. For more information, visit www.clarkcountyarhistory.org

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